NT Cricket and our proud partners at AANT are delighted to announce that the winner of August’s ‘AANT Volunteer of the Month’ Award is Mel Nixon of Tracy Village Cricket Club in Darwin.
Mel is one of those volunteers that every club needs, the one that wears multiple hats, always positive and always saying yes to everything! TVCC’s Junior Co-ordinator since 2021, Mel signed up to play for the women’s team the following year and this season also put her hand up to take on the role of Vice President of the club.
With 94 junior players registered for Tracy Village CC across seven teams, including three at U9s, Mel is certainly kept busy in her role as TVCC’s Junior Co-ordinator, working endless hours for the club with logistics, planning, organisation, fundraising, mentoring, supporting and co-ordinating all the club’s Juniors.
At the start of the 2024 season, Mel organised Tracy Village CC’s Woolworths Cricket Blast program, which saw over 60 local children participate across its four-week program, and over 30 of those participants went on to register to play for the club for the 2024 season.
Nominating Mel for August’s AANT Volunteer of the Month Award, Tracy Village CC’s Olivia Hagan was thrilled that Mel’s efforts had been recognised by the judging panel:
“Mel works so hard to ensure our junior space is structured and organised. Her huge effort and commitment to growing and improving our participation numbers, and her endless endeavours to retain those players and maintain and instil a love of cricket in our kids is immeasurable. Her desire for the kids, above all else, to just have fun playing this great game; we’re so grateful to have volunteers like Mel at our club, driving us forward”.
Even while accepting her award, Mel continued to advocate for the importance of club volunteers:
"Volunteering for the club is very rewarding, especially in the junior space. I try to encourage others to step up and get involved. I think there's a lot of people out there that don't realise cricket clubs are all volunteer based, so it would be great to see others, more parents getting involved and contributing to the clubs, because it is really rewarding".
Mel will receive a 12-month Premium AANT Membership along with a $250 United fuel voucher.
Nominations are now open for September’s AANT Volunteer of the Month. If you would like to nominate a valued volunteer at your club, this month’s nomination form can be found by clicking here.